Today is kind of a big deal. Today, I turn fifty years old. Neither of the previous Charles Parkers made it this far. It feels kind of weird to be here. This is, oddly enough, uncharted territory. I am, in a lot of ways, at least below the neck, in the best shape of my […]

So I haven’t done one of these in a while. I’ve had a rough couple of months. Really busy time at work, some personal health challenges, some communal health challenges (hello, COVID round two!) that killed some much-anticipated plans (goodbye, ConGregate), some puppy growing pains, and a national and global political situation that’s been looking […]

As I do, here’s a summary of the just-ended year as defined by pure numbers. A few of the standard categories went down, but as you can see elsewhere in the list, I’ve been busy elsewhere. Lots of stuff going on, as you can see. miles hiked or biked: 1608 rides longer than 50 miles: […]

By the time anyone reads this, I’ll be done working for the year. It’s kind of fitting that the big thing on my agenda for the last day is the try-to-make-it-quarterly touchpoint meeting with my supervisor to talk through the whole work experience thing and make plans for moving forward into 2024. So, having wrapped […]

So, once again, my membership with independent music radio station wnrn pays off with free tickets to live shows in the area. This time, it was a pile of 90s rock bands touring together; exactly the sort of stuff one would hear on the radio while I was in college and my early ’20s. Fastball, […]

I’ve no idea why, but the depression’s hitting really hard over the last week. Usually, I can find some sort of historical event in the calendar that pulls this stuff up, though I can’t this time; I guess I forgot to write it down or I’ve blocked it from my memory. In any case, I’ve […]

So yes, I was *on* all week, due to the off-site (at my former office a little north of here) program management workshop Tuesday through Thursday, which involved backing up my boss’s never-ending energy with technical expertise and rapid-fire abilities to yank obscure documentation out of the aether at her word. Plus, I had to […]

So, last weekend was a nice diversion, getting to play some shows with my friends down in Durham. I thought we sounded pretty good, though it’d have been nice if more folks had come to the shows. This one wasn’t really a big music event, though double-digits would’ve been nice. The Saturday show, though, did […]

I haven’t heard this song in more than 35 years, but when my friend Chris mentioned it on social media and I saw said mention this morning, I heard it all before clicking play. You did too; admit it. Got some stuff done this weekend. Took off early on Friday and hit IKEA for present […]

So, I thought last night’s show went pretty well. I thought I sounded pretty good; sold few CDs and pulled in some tips in addition to my fee, and, probably most important to the venue, brought in some friends who ordered lots of food and beverages. The staff (who I generally get along with anyway) […]